


Historical Misconceptions About The King Bee

by rthstewart



Category: Elementary (TV)
Genre: 3 Sentence Ficathon, Female Friendship, Gen, International Women's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 13:59:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1390315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rthstewart/pseuds/rthstewart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They try to meet weekly for a cup of White Darjeeling</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not just the maid

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Idhren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idhren/gifts).



> The following are based on prompts provided by the lovely Idhren in the 3 Sentence Ficathon and for International Women's Day.

Joan is out helping the Bronx Zoo find their cobra ( _Naja naja_ ), so she is unable to make their weekly White Darjeeling and _tête-à-tête_ when Marie visits the brownstone to continue her latest project of cataloging Sherlock’s case files in a system other than moldering cardboard bankers’ boxes stacked floor to ceiling – she refuses to dignify it with the term _organization_ for the system is opaque to all but Sherlock himself.

 _Khalepà tà kalá_ to be sure.

With the completion of this fifth labour, she posts a warning to Sherlock on the well oiled file cabinet, _Tò dìs examarteîn ouk andròs sophoû._

* * *

  
  
*Miss Hudson seems without a first name in Elementary so far, though Marie seems plausible. Khalepà tà kalá is "Nothing without labor." "Tò dìs examarteîn ouk andròs sophoû" means “To commit the same sin twice is not the mark of a wise man.”

Apologies for mangled Greek and Latin.


	2. King Bee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One bee is no bee.

Fortunately, Ms. Hudson was not the least concerned about Romulus and Remus when Joan admits her to the brownstone for the bi-weekly cleaning. “I earned Merit Badges in veterinary medicine, bird study, and farm mechanics,” she explains.

 

Marie inspects the food Sherlock has been feeding the roosters and tuts at its nutritional inadequacy. They submit willingly to Marie's confident, gentle handling.   Each rooster coos and clucks contentedly as she tucks the bird under her arm and carefully inspects feathers and feet. “You don’t want mites or bumblefoot,” she says.

 

Marie returns the next day with oyster grit for their gizzards and a pair of clippers for their toe claws.

 

Once the roosters are trimmed and returned to the pen, she and Marie can finally enjoy the too-often-delayed cup of tea.

 

“The birds are obviously a metaphor for Sherlock,” Joan says, thinking of Lestrade, Mycroft, and even Bell. “Two males who can’t share the same roost without pecking each other’s eyes out. It is behavioral therapy for him as much as it is for the birds.”

 

Marie shakes her head, the exasperated _men,_ implied rather than spoken. “Perhaps he has finally taken a cue from his bees. His fascination with family _Apidae_ has always been so contradictory.”

 

Joan sips her White Darjeeling and considers this further. “There are no solitary bees, are there? No King Bees?”

 

“No, though the King Bee as colony patriarch was a common misconception until the mid-17th century.”

 

Now it’s Joan’s turn for an exasperated huff. In theory, they have moved beyond the 1600s but the casual sexism of police work continues to irritate.

 

Marie dryly adds, “Like Romulus and Remus as allegory for only one cock on the block,” -- they both giggle like teenage boys telling a dirty joke -- " _A. mellifera_ and its related subspecies are very much a metaphor for the benefits of collective cooperation for the greater good."

 

 _"Una apis, nulla apis_ ,” Joan replies. She’s been reading up on bees now that she has her own species.

 

“Precisely.”

 

ooOOoo

As far as I know, still no first name for Ms. Hudson, ergo, "Marie."

" _Una apis, nulla apis"_ means "One bee is no bee."

From [this article ](http://sociologicalinsect.com/tag/king-bee/)Idhren provided on the sociopolitical implications of bees.


End file.
